Question about texture maps

[Kress]

Hey,
Can anyone help me out with some info about UV map resolutions? I need to know what dpi to make them so that they render right, even close up, but aren't too hard on the computer? Can anyone explain the blalance between the two?

THanks :chug:

[zynne]

Determining the appropriate resolution for a UVMap depends on a number of things.

For stills, I generally use high res maps for the focus of the image (a person's head, for instance, might have a UVMap at 4000 pixels wide, 72 dpi) and lower res maps for distant background elements. Some things to consider:

1) What size will your render be? If you plan on rendering an eyeball at 5000 pixels, then a UVMap of 500 pixels will be insufficient.

2) What level of detail do you want? If you want to see each individual pore on a person's nose, work big.

3) For elements you plan on rendering over and over again, it is best to make a large, high res map that you can resize smaller as needed.. I often use low res texture maps for works in progress, then switch to a high res map for a final render.

[Waylon]

In my experience, going above a 2000x2000 map is where you first start to notice a speed hit (though it really depends on your computer and the scene, of course.) If you don't have many maps, doing 4000x4000 shouldn't be too slow.

Maps for realtime applications (video games) are usually 512x512 or 1024x1024. At least, as far as I've read.

Also, one other thing to keep in mind - a 20000x20000 map will look really good in theory, but in practice it's infeasible to actually draw that much detail.

On the other hand, if you start big and it's too slow, you can always scale the map down. It's much harder to scale up if you find you need more detail.

Ack, ok, I didn't really answer your question, just gave you more things to think about. Hope it helps anyway. :)

[Deth Jester]

If you are working on textures for game charecters, then you want to keep them small.. But you can always reduce later.. so work large.. then reduce...

256x512 and 512x512 are todays standard size.. at 72dpi


since textures are on the computer and rendered through the computer nothing above 72dpi is needed.

Hope the following info can help

peace.

feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions

[Kress]

Rad - thanks a lot you guys. This is totally helpful and basically the information I was looking for :) I had no bearing on how big to work and you've all solved that problem!!
:chug:
Thanks again - feel free to add any more info you see fit!